Here’s the thing.  I crave Wawa Macaroni Salad.  Crave it.  My mouth starts to water whenever I think of it.  There is no other macaroni salad that I like better - or even close.  I cannot figure out how to make something similar.  I have had the great macaroni salad cook-offs (by myself) at home where we ended up eating a whole lot of yummy macaroni salad, but none of them were like Wawa’s. 

I made the mistake of looking at their nutrition label to try and figure out what they are using.  Please, if you value your health, do not look at how many calories are in Wawa Macaroni Salad!  It’s about one day’s worth of calories (if you’re on a diet) in one small serving.  Honestly. 

So I’m trying to see what I can do to come up with something that’s as creamy and tangy and flavorful, but not have to sacrifice everything else that I want to eat in a day to eat it.  I can’t.

I know that key ingredients are mayonnaise and vinegar and onion flavoring of some sort and shredded carrots and celery seed.  Oh, and macaroni.  You’d think I’d be able to come up with something close, but I can’t.  I am missing something and I can’t for the life of me think of what it could be.  I’ve tried adding tiny pieces of green pepper or celery and I even tried the tiniest pieces of cheddar cheese (which did improve the flavor, by the way), but I’m not there.  I have looked at easily 100 macaroni salad recipes.  The only thing I haven’t tried is pickles but they are not listed in Wawa’s ingredient list.  I don’t know what to do!

In the meantime, while I wrack my brain, I will go into Wawa once in a while and get a tiny container of their macaroni salad and relish every single bite (I eat it one noodle at a time - that’s how much I love it!) and know that I won’t get the chance to have it again for a long time. 

Does anyone out there work for Wawa and would be willing to sell me the recipe??  How about one of those Kopy Kat Recipes?  Can’t someone come up with one of them?  What’s the missing ingredient?????

(Oh, and if you’re not from the East Coast and have no idea what a Wawa is, you can ignore this plea.)

1.  Being without my computer since Saturday is giving me the twitches.  Facial tics are not uncommon.  I get to pick it up today, though, and the repair is free.  Nice!

2.  I’m wearing a polyester blouse.  It’s a nice blouse (brand new) but I fear that I’m suffering deodorant breakdown.  I normally wear natural materials on my self.  This could get ugly since it’s not even 10:00 yet.

That’s it.  How’s your Monday morning going?

I hope your weekend is starting off well here on this lovely first day of autumn!

Mine?  Glad you asked.

I’ve been up since 3:30 this morning.  It was at that time that I discovered we have lost the middle tier of our cable channels.  All the ones I like to watch in the middle of the night.  Nickelodeon, TV Land, TNT, MTV, ESPN.  Ugh.  So I settled on a network called Discovery Times.  Gruesome shows, but fascinating.

Then I found that my computer broke.  My Mac.  My baby!  Probably the power supply.  So I check the warranty.

Expired.

I have to take the poor thing in to the King of Prussia mall (queue the sinister music) and find out how much it’s going to take to fix it.  UGH.

So I went to fix myself some breakfast and opened up my brand new loaf of whole wheat bread.  It’s green.

Tell me.  Is there hope for salvaging this day or should I just hibernate somewhere today and wish for better things tomorrow??

Here’s an unusual animal.  This is the civet.  Well, one of 32 different species of civet.  It’s a carnivore that is native to the Old World tropics (Africa, the Mediterranean, Madagascar, etc.). 

(Picture found here.)

You can find the article about it on Wikipedia here.

I dropped a full bottle of mayonnaise on the top of my foot this morning.

Ow.

Ow.

Ow.

Why do the batteries on smoke alarms, pagers and cell phones always run down in the middle of the night?

I’ve even seen a commercial showing a guy being awoken in the middle of the night by his smoke alarm battery beeping, so obviously this is the only time it happens.

What’s up with that??

And see how this woman is smiling in the picture?  That’s TOTALLY wrong!!

Today is my mom’s birthday.

Happy birthday, Mom!

(Actually, I hope she never sees this message.  This blog should remain unknown to both of my parents forever and ever!)

Anyway, you can still join me in wishing my mom a happy birthday, though, right??

In honor of this article that I just read on Wikipedia, today’s AOTD is the buffalo.  Or American bison.  Or, as my Lakota friends would call them, Tatanka.

(I found this great picture here.)

*Click to enlarge*

Here’s a bit of what Wikipedia had to say:

The American Bison (Bison bison), is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America, and one of the largest wild cattles in the world. With their huge bulk, wood bison, which are the largest subspecies in North America, are only surpassed in size by the massive Asian gaur and wild water buffalo, both of which are found mainly in India. The bison inhabited the Great Plains of the United States and Canada in massive herds, ranging from the Great Slave Lake in Canada’s far north to Mexico in the south, and from eastern Oregon almost to the Atlantic Ocean, taking its subspecies into account. Its two subspecies are the Plains Bison (Bison bison bison), distinguished by its smaller size and more rounded hump, and the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae), distinguished by its larger size and taller square hump.

Very cool animals.

This morning, I stirred from my slumber at around 5:30. 

Then the lights went out and the TV turned off and I heard a big electrical hum outside.

Then the lights flickered and went back out and I heard another big electrical hum outside.

Then I looked outside and saw a huge flash of light in the distance and I heard a third big electrical hum.

Then I proceeded to get ready for work in the dark.  Candles accompanied me into my closet to choose my clothing (which turned out to not match because I picked out blue pants and a black and white shirt), candles accompanied me while I took my shower, candles and a flashlight accompanied me while I tried to put on my makeup.

At last, Buzz and I got tired of waiting in the dark house for it to be time to go to work so we came in early.  Me and my wet hair.

Today started out badly.  And I haven’t felt quite right all day, what with my fuzzy hair and less-than-perfect makeup and no coffee.

I can’t wait to get home!  Next time this happens, I’m just rolling over and going back to sleep!

For the last 30 years or so, I have known that it is approximately 18 inches from the tip of my middle finger to my elbow.  This is the only odd fact that I know about my body measurements but it has been helpful over the years when trying to decide if a new piece of furniture is going to fit or whatever.

Tell me - do you know any interesting facts about your own body measurements?  And try to keep it clean now, people!

I first heard about this animal in the first lines of a Tom Robbins book.  I posted about it.  Here.

Tanuki is the Japanese name for the animal that is also known as the Raccoon Dog.  This creature seems to be overwhelmingly fascinating to many people.  So much so that they create sculptures and cartoons emphasizing what seems to be his most “remarkable” feature.  It is also mentioned in the first line of that Tom Robbins book that I posted about.  Here. 

I have never seen one in real life so I can tell you one way or another.  I’ll just give you a few pictures to ponder.  First a photo, then a cartoon.

Here’s part of what Wikipedia says about the folklore of Tanuki:

Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a “promissory note” (a bill it never pays) in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have a large belly, and contemporary sculptures may or may not show them with the traditional large testicles. These exaggerated features represent fertility and plenty. Called Kin-tama (Golden Balls) in Japanese, the testes are supposedly symbols of good luck rather than overt sexual symbols (the Japanese are more tolerant of low humor than most Western nations).

And here’s a bit of what it says about the Raccoon Dog:

The Raccoon Dog is a unique member of the canid family as it is the only member to go into torpor through the winter months and is also known to “play dead” when attacked. They do not bark, and they turn their tail into an inverted U to express dominance. The brain of the tanuki is poorly developed compared to dogs and wolves, and its teeth are small. Its testicles are notably large, which figure into Japanese folklore.

Interesting stuff, eh?

*crickets*

What??  Hey, at least I didn’t give you this one on a Monday morning!

Today, I’m trying out my AAA membership for the first time in 15 years or so.  My poor old beat up van has a flat tire.  So, since I have a AAA membership, why not get them to fix the thing, right?

They should be here within the hour.  I hope everything goes well!

*UPDATE* I think I can safely say that everything went well!  I initially called at 9:03 and I was back at my desk after the tire was changed by 9:33.  That’s service!!

I’d like to wish a very happy birthday to Alicia and to my brother, Dave!

I have to go back to work this morning.  “I” have to go back to work this morning.  Buzz is still upstairs sleeping.  In the oh, so comfortable 60 degree weather.  I want to still be there!

Oh, well.  I’ll quit my moaning.

Hey, here’s a question.  You know how when you buy a set of sheets, they come with two pillow cases?  How come more manufacturers don’t sell their pillow cases individually (or in twos) so that people like me (who have six pillows on their beds) can have all matching pillow cases?  Do I have to go spend horrendous amounts of money to buy my sheets and pillow cases à la carte?  Or is there someone who makes a good sheet set (minimum 300 thread count) who sells extra pillow cases, too?  Surely, I can’t be the only one with this problem, can I?

I started a weekly AOTD (Animal of the Day™) last year.  Here were my first two entries:

Echidna

Silky Anteater

Today’s AOTD is listed as one of the eight most unusual mammals on the planet.  It is the Malayan Tapir.

(This photo courtesy of the Ultimate Ungulate Page.)

Here’s a bit of what Wikipedia has to say about these animals:

The animal is easily identified by its markings, most notably the light-colored “saddle” which extends from its shoulders to its rump. The rest of its hair is black, except for the tips of its ears which, as with other tapirs, are rimmed with white. This pattern is for camouflage: the disrupted coloration makes it more difficult to recognize it as a tapir, and other animals may mistake it for a large rock rather than a form of prey when it is lying down to sleep.

Interesting-looking animals, yes?  I had never seen this type of tapir before, even with my many, many years of watching wildlife shows on TV.  They’re kinda cute, though, aren’t they? 

Now get out there and watch some football!!  Go Cowboys!!!